Preservation of poles, posts, and the like



July 7, 1925. 1,545,427

P. J. HOWE ET Al.

PRESERVATION 0F PoLEs, POSTS, AND`THE LIKE Filed Feb. 11, 1925 l/fl/' Patented July 'A7, 1925.

PAUL J. HOWE, F RIEGE'WOOD, AND`RAND0I1PH LEEDOM ASSIGNGRS T0 THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COM A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that we, PAUL J. Hown and PRESERVATION 0F POLES, POSTS, AND THE LIKE.

Application filed February 11, 1925. Serial No. 8,392.

, or CLIFTomNEW JERSEY, PANY, .or NEW Yoan, N. Y.,

tion, to a point about one and one-half feet above the ground line, with creosote. Creo- RANDoLrH LEEDOM, citizens of the United sote is a comparatively expensive product States, residing at Ridgewood, in the county and it is therefore of great advantage to of Bergen, State of New Jersey, and Clifton, limit its use to the ground line section only, Passaic County, and State of New Jersey, which 1s the only partof the pole at which respectively, have invented certain new and 1t is actually required.

useful Improvements inthe Preservation.

Our invention includes, not only, the imof Poles, Posts, and the like, of which the pregnation of the ground line' section of following is a specification.

This invention relates to the treatment the pole with creosote, but a simultaneous impregnatlon of the lower section of the land preservation of porous material, such butt, that is, the section below the ground as wood, especially in an elongated form, lme section, with a cheap and effective presuch, for example, as poles.

An object of the invention is vthe treat-V tank meth ment of such poles, especially by the open tank method, in such manner that the preof liquid in the tank, the sp servative is applied only where needed,

which is high compared to servative, especially by means of the open whereby waste thereof is prevented. Other sote, and We prefer a liquid which is immisobjects of the, invention will appear from clble therewith. We th the further description.

Three general methods have been commonly used in the application of preservatives to pole timber, namely the pressure en liow an upper stratum of creosote on the lower stratum of heavier liquid, upon which the creosote stratum floats. The liquid of the lower and heavier stratum, on which the ycreosote is method, in which the preservative is forced -iioated, may or may not be a wood preservaunder high pressure into the wood, the tive, as conditions require. superficial method in which the preservativey is merely brushed or sprayed on the Our process involves a heat treatment and pole, and the open tank method in which one which boils at a higher temperature the wood is held for given periods in hot than that at which we treat the poles.

and cold preservatives. We prefer for the lower stratum liquid, When poles are standing in line, the secthat 1s the liquid on which the creosote is tion most liable to decay is that extending oint of about one foot above the from a floated, an aqueous salt preservative solution for the floating of the creosote and for ground ne to a point between'one and onethe treatment of the butt sectipn of the pole half and two feet below the ground line. It below the ground line, and of various salt is essential to treat this section, known as Solutions we prefer a 3% solution of zinc the ound line section, with creosote, inaschloride in water, the same being saturated muc as this oil is practically the only pracwith ordinary salt or sodium chloride. Such tical preservative which will not leach out a solution has a specic gravity of about of the wood. It is not as important to treat l 1.21, while its boiling point is in the neighthe buried section of the pole below the borhood of 226 F. While we prefer the ground line section with a non-leaching pre servative, as it is not subjected to the action of surface water to so great an extent as the ground line section, nor to the action of the specific solution here indicated on account of its effectiveness and the low cost of the constituents thereof, nevertheless we do not wish to be limited strictly thereto but air on volatile elements of the preservative. equivalents of the components therein may In the open tank treatment of poles, how-- be substituted therefor ever, up to thepresent time, it has been customary to treat the entire butt section, that We have used creosote oil havi a s eciiic gravity of about 1.03, but lthis a so is', the ground line sectlon as well as the secmay be varied and still be within the scope tion of the pole-below the ground line secof our invention.

. whether the lower liquid stratum 2 have pre-- The temperature treatment of the poles is 22()o F. which temperature we prefer, but this also may be varied within limits.

The liquids mentioned are very effective for the treatment of the poles and they are of such a nature that they do not mix practically at all.

Referring to the accompanying drawings;

Fig. l is a cross section of an open tank with a pole therein for treatment; and

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a pole treated according to our method.

In the drawings, 1. designates an open tank inwhich is a lower'layer or stratum 2 of liquid, and an upper layer or stratum 3 of the liquid with which it is desired to impregnato the ground line section. 4 designates a pole within the tank for treatment and such pole may be held upright by suitable means (not shown) or it may be allowed to rest against the upper edge of the tank as may be desired. No matter in what position the pole may be while being treated, after treatment thereof it may be allowed to lean or rest against the edge of' the tank before withdrawal thereof, should it be convenient 'to do so.

We prefer to use a tank sodimensioned that a l number of poles may be tre-ated simultaneously.

The length of the ground line section 5 of the pole to be treated with creosote may be increased or diminished by correspondingly increasing or decreasing the thickness of the layer 3; or to some extent by tilting the pole to such an angle that the Iproper length 5 thereof will be within the creosote layer;

, while the position of this section on the pole may be varied by varying the thickness of the liquid layer 2, which correspondingly varies the length of the butt section 6 treated with the zinc chloride sodium chloride solution.

We have successfully treated poles by our method with a saving of approxlmately 30% in creosote oil, and we have found a very clear line of demarcation between the section treated with the salts solution and the section treated with the creosote oil.

For some purposes, it may be immaterial Lservative properties 'or not, and in such case any' suitable solution liquid may besubstituted therefor, provided only that it had the proper specific gravity yto float the creosote and a sutliciently high boiling point so that it will not boil at the temperature of treatment of the poles.

What we claim is:

1. Anj open tank method of treating the ground line section only of poles with creosote which comprises floating a layer4 of creosote on a layer of liquid immiscibleV therewith and having a higher specific gravity than that of the creosote in an open tank, placing the poles to be treated in said open`tank so that they extend within both layers, and allowing them to soak therein at atmospheric pressure.

2. An open tank method of treating the ground line section only of poles with creosote which comprises floating a layer of' creosote on a layer of liquid immiscible therewith and having a higher specific gravity than that of the creosote in an open tank, the boiling point of said liquid being higher than the temperature of treatment of the poles, and applying heat thereto while the poles to be treated extend within both layers.

3. An open tank method of treating the ground line section only of poles with creosote which comprises floating a layer of creosote on a layer of liquid 1mmiscible therewith and having ahigher specific gravity than that of the creosote in an open tank, the boiling point of said liquid being higher than the temperature of treat-ment of the poles2 the thicknesses of the two liquid layers belng so chosen that a desired length of intermediate section of the pole will be treated with creosote when the pole is supported at a fixed level with respect to the tank, supporting said poles at said fixed level within the tank, and applying heat thereto while the poles to be treated extend within both layers.

l4. An open tank method of treating the ground line section only of poles with creosote and simultaneously treating the butt section of such poles with an aqueous preservative, which comprises floating a layer of creosote on a layer of aqueous preservative immiscible therewith and having a higher specific gravity than that olf the creosote in an open tank, placing the poles to be treated in said open tank so that they extend within both layers, and allowing ythem to soak therein.

5. An open tank method of treating the ground line section only of poles with' creosote, and simultaneously ltreating the butt section of such poles with an aques preground line section only of 'poles with creosote and simultaneously treating thebutt section of such poles with l,an aqueous p reservative, which comprises floating a layer of creosote on a layer of aqueous preservative immiscible therewith and having a higher specific gravity than that of the creosote in an open tank, the boiling point of the aqueous preservative being higher than the temperature of treatment of the poles,

. and applying heat thereto while the poles to be treated extend within both layers.

7. An open tank method of treating the ground line section onl of poles 4with vcreo-- pole will be treated with creosote when the pole is supported at a liXed level 'with respect to the tank, supporting said poles at said fixed level within the tank, and allowing them to soak therein.

8. An open tank method of treatlng the ground line section only of poles with creosote and simultaneous y treating the butt section of such poles with an equeous preservative, which comprises floating a layer of creosote on a layer comprising a 3% solution of zinc chloride in water saturated with sodium chloride, placing the poles to be treated in said open tank so that they extend-within both layers, and allowing them to soak thereinA at atmospheric pressure.

'9. An open tank method of treating the ground line section onl of poles with creosote and simultaneous y treating the butt section of such poles with an aqueous preservative, which comprises floating a layer of creosote on a layer comprising a 3% solution of zinc chloride in water saturated with sodium chloride, placing the poles to be treated in said open tank so that they eX- tend within both layers, and applying heat thereto at a temperature below the boiling l point of the zinc chloride sodium chloride,

solution at atmospheric pressure.

10. An open tank method of treating the ground line section onl of poles with creosote and simultaneous y treating the butt section of such poles with. an aqueous preservative, which comprises floating a layer of creosote on a layer comprising a 3% solution of zinc chloride inwater saturated with sodium chloride, and heating to 220 F. while the poles to be treated extend within both layers. p

11. An open tank method of treating the ground line section only of poles withlcreosote and simultaneously treating the butt section of such poles with an aqueous preservative, which comprises floating 'a layer of creosote on a layer comprising a 3% solution of zinc chloride in water saturated with sodium chloride, the thicknesses of the two liquid layers being so chosen that a desired length of intermediate section of the ypole will be treated with creosote and the buttv section therebelow will be treated with the zinc chloride sodium chloride solution when the pole is supported at a fixed level with respect to the tank, supporting said poles at said fixed level within the tank, and heating to 220 F. at atmospheric pressure.

lIn testimony whereof we atlix our signa-y tures.

PAUL J; HOWE. i RANDOLPH LEEDOM. 

